Editorial: Public feels the brunt of water project's bills

Cal Am's local water customers have every right to feel like they're being kicked while they're down.

The latest in a succession of low blows is word that eight organizations are asking the state Public Utilities Commission to pay them a total of more than $1.3 million in the coming years so they can weigh in on various aspects of Cal Am's Monterey Peninsula Water Supply Project.

Money for the payments would not actually come from the PUC, of course. It would come from you and you and you, because you drink the water and pay the bills. This, of course, is on top of large and frequent rate increases and other costs associated with the ongoing Peninsula water wars and the failed desalination effort that preceded the current version.

It might not feel so rough if the groups were fighting to keep down costs and rates. That is the mission of some, such as Citizens for Public Water.

But the environmental groups with their hands out — Surfrider Foundation, the Sierra Club, LandWatch and the Planning and Conservation League — have interests other than your water bill. And though their goals may be noble, their work easily could make the long-awaited water project even more expensive.

Surfrider, for instance, was paid more than $250,000 previously for its lobbying on the defunct Regional Desalination Project, work that consisted largely of helping to steer the previous project away from Moss Landing. Steering the desalination component back toward Moss Landing is a big part of what WaterPlus hopes to accomplish, with the help of $334,000 in PUC-ordered compensation.

Look for a key farm group, the Salinas Valley Water Coalition, to receive a portion of your water bill in the future for reminding the PUC about water rights issues that the PUC chose to ignore while allowing the previous project to go down the drain.

The Coalition of Peninsula Businesses includes the Monterey County Hospitality Association, the Monterey County Association of Realtors and other business groups. It wants up to $400 an hour for 875 hours of work on the water project. Don't be surprised if some of the hours are spent pushing a rate structure that favors commerical users over residential customers.

In theory, there is logic behind the compensation system. The utilities regulated by the Public Utilities Commission tend to be large, well-financed concerns such as PG&E or California American Water, which can afford high-dollar lawyers, lobbyists, accountants and others to make the case for high utility rates and anything else the utility companies want. The PUC has a staff assigned to stand up on behalf of the ratepayers, the Division of Ratepayer Advocates, but it is a relatively small office stretched ridiculously thin.

Theoretically, the system could provide meaningful protection for the ratepayers except that there are no clear rules on what groups qualify for payments and no requirement that they actually operate in the interests of the ratepayers. Nor does the PUC staff have the time or inclination to monitor the side deals and shifting alliances that are almost certain to arise when such a variety of groups are involved.

The regulated utility is in position to oppose payment to some groups and to support payment to others. Don't expect Cal Am to explain its rationale when that time comes.

While PUC officials urge the various groups to coordinate efforts and avoid redundancy, it should require them to demonstrate that their work is reasonably intended to serve the general public good and not just their special interest. They should be required to file regular reports on their efforts and not just wait until the end when the loot is handed out — assuming there is any loot left.